Beauty is only skin deep
by rjt040190
Summary: Oliver Queen was marooned on an island and after 5 years he's come back home. Everybody in Starling City is curious to see him, but he doesn't show his face to the world. He has been hiding away in the Queen mansion for 9 months and refuses to even see Tommy and Laurel. Why is he hiding from the world? (OLICITY) CHAPTER 8 is up! :)
1. Chapter 1

**BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP**

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

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The Queen Mansion. Felicity was on her way there and as she saw the building before her eyes, she felt a shiver down her spine. Felicity had heard the stories from others about Oliver Queen. Before he was marooned on the island, he was the party animal/playboy/ billionaire's son. But after those 5 years, he wasn't that person anymore.

Oliver Queen has been hiding his face since he got back home. There were lots of speculations, but Felicity didn't believe any of them. Why has he been hiding from the world for 9 months? That was the huge question and Felicity was curious about the answer.

Walter Steele had asked her to come over to the mansion. But he was very vague about why she had to be there. All he said was that his stepson needed some help.

**_"Help with what, Mr. Steele?" Felicity had asked._**

**_"Uhumm… well Oliver asked me if I knew someone who could help him with some computer stuff. You were the first person I thought of." He replied._**

Curiosity. That was the reason why she was here in front of the Queen mansion. Felicity didn't know what to expect. She was anxious, excited and a little afraid of what's to come. For a split second, Felicity thought about bailing. But she was already here and had knocked; there was no turning back now.

As her heart pounded against her chest, she saw the door open slowly.

"Hi, Miss Smoak." Walter Steele said, as he smiled at Felicity.

"Hello, Mr. Steele. Is it too late for me to back down?" She asked, while she gulped rather loudly.

Walter laughed and grabbed her hand." Come inside, Felicity. You're hilarious as usual. Come in."

As Felicity walked inside the mansion, she looked around and whistled." This place is really nice."

"Yes, I guess so. Come and take a seat." He replied.

"Thank you. Where is your wife and stepdaughter?" Felicity asked.

"Uhum, well… they are having a spa day." Walter said.

"OK. God, I think I need one of those too. Because these last few months have been so hectic at QC. I need a facial, a pedicure and definitely a massage. Yes, a massage would be great." Felicity said, as her eyes fell shut thinking about how good it would feel to have a massage.

Walter raised an eyebrow and waited. After 3 seconds, Felicity realized where she was and who she was with and what she just said. Her eyes flew open and she turned crimson red.

"Uhumm, sorry Mr. Steele. I'm not saying that you are giving me too much work… or that I cannot handle the job. Cause I can! I definitely can handle the pressure… not that my job comes with a lot of pressure and stress…And uhummm, I'm just gonna stop talking now!" Felicity babbled.

Walter shook his head, as he smiled widely."It's OK, Felicity. Do you want something to drink?"

"No, thank you. I just drank 3 cups of coffee a while ago." Felicity replied.

"OK, so I think my stepson can see you now. Are you ready?"

"Can I ask you something, Mr. Steele?" She said.

"Yes, of course." Walter replied.

"Is it true that your stepson hides from the world, because he had an accident and is blind now?" She whispered.

"No, that rumor is not true." Felicity heard from behind her.

As it dawned on her that Oliver Queen had answered her question, Felicity's eyes fell shut. She covered her face with both her hands and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry for saying that. Well, actually I'm sorry that I got caught whilst saying that." She said in one breath.

Walter chuckled." There are a lot of rumors about Oliver. Now that he's here and you're here, you can ask him yourself. I'll leave you two alone now." He replied and strode out the door.

Felicity panicked and ran after Walter."Wait! Where are you going, Walter? Uhum… I mean Mr. Steele?"

"Well, Oliver has some things to ask you in private. OK, later." He said and disappeared.

"Don't worry, Miss Smoak. I don't bite." She heard a voice say.

Felicity closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. As she let it out, she turned around. When she saw Oliver Queen's face, her heart dropped. He didn't look like the Oliver Queen of 5 years ago. Of course she had never met him before, but she saw pictures of him in the tabloids. And this version of him differed a lot from that version.

She unconsciously looked at him with her mouth open slightly. What happened to him? No wonder he didn't want the world to see him now. No wonder he hid in this mansion. The world they lived in was harsh and very judgmental. Felicity had an idea how people would react if they saw Oliver Queen now. She didn't blame him tough for wanting to protect himself from the cruel people in Starling City.

"Are you done, Miss Smoak?" Oliver asked.

"What? Done with what?"

"Done with examining every inch of my face? I know I don't look like I used to, but you don't have to be afraid of me." he said.

Felicity shook her head." Mr. Quee…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Call me Oliver, please. My dad was Mr. Queen, not me."

She nodded and narrowed her eyes."OK, Oliver. To be honest, I am not afraid of you. I'm just shocked… uhum, I mean I didn't know what to expect. But I'm not afraid of you." Felicity confessed.

"OK, if that's so then I'm glad. But I have to tell you that you're the first. Because when my mom and my sister saw me like this, they were both a bit scared of me. It took them two days to adjust to my 'new' face." He said.

Felicity's heart bled, as she heard the pain in his voice. Her eyes began to water, but she held them back. As she looked at Oliver Queen, a sudden calmness took over her. Yes, he looked very different and some would say kind of scary, but that didn't scare her. At all. As she observed his face, Felicity looked passed the surface. She looked passed his very imperfect face. Instead, Felicity looked into those blue eyes of him and saw the real Oliver Queen.

"Well, I'm not the kind of person who judges someone solely on their looks." She replied.

A small smile crept on Oliver's face, as he nodded."Well, I'm glad then. And now I know why Walter thought of only you, when I asked him if he knew someone who could help me with something. Someone who I could trust." He said, his voice filled with admiration.

Felicity blushed at the compliment, avoiding Oliver's piercing gaze. She then cleared her throat, as she fixed her glasses and looked up at him."So, are you gonna tell me why I'm here?" She asked.

"Yes, about that. Do you mind coming upstairs with me? I've something to show you and a huge favor to ask you." Oliver said.

"Yeah, of course."

"Wait." He said and turned around to face her. "We should shake hands first." Oliver stated.

"Why?"

"That's what people do, when they first meet right?" he simply said.

"OK." Felicity replied and brought her hands towards his.

As their hands collided, Felicity felt something stir inside of her. While her small hand disappeared in his, she felt an immediate connection with him. Felicity locked eyes with Oliver and in those blue eyes, she saw a good man before her. Huh? She didn't understand it! How could she possibly know what kind of man he was inside? But she just knew. In his eyes, Felicity also saw pain. An unbearable pain that he lived with, so he build a strong wall around him, not letting anyone in. In his eyes Felicity saw a good, but completely broken man.

"Can I have my hand back now?" Oliver asked, as a genuine smile graced his face.

"Uh… yeah, of course." She retorted and pulled her hand back.

"OK, then. Let's go to my library. It's up the stairs." He said.

"Let's go." Felicity replied and followed Oliver.

As she walked behind him, her heart hammered against her rib cage.

'My oh my! What have you gotten yourself into now, Felicity Smoak?' was her last thought before entering the library.

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**_Leave me your feedback?_**


	2. Chapter 2

**BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP**

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**Thank you all for the AMAZING feedback! :) Keep them coming?**

**To thatmasquedgirl: THANK YOU FOR proofreading this chapter! You are an AWESOME Beta! :)**

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**_From chap 1 to chap 2 there is a time jump._**

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That day Oliver asked Felicity a favor. He had a ruined laptop and asked her if she could salvage anything from it. That was the first of many favors she did for Oliver. It varied from finding out who sold that dark arrow to doing a spectral analysis of a sample of an 'energy drink'. Each time Oliver asked Felicity to do something, she had a feeling that he was not telling the truth about it. They were just ridiculous lies! He clearly was bad at lying, and she wondered what his _real_ motives were.

The fact that Oliver Queen was a very mysterious man intrigued her. Every time she went to his house to help him with something, she felt a certain pull towards him-one that had become increasingly stronger.

Felicity began to really like and trust him. And after spending that much time with Oliver in his library, she had a feeling that he trusted her too. Felicity had gotten used to his scarred face. However, she still wondered how he ended up like that. There were times that she wanted to ask him;many times that question was on the tip of her tongue, but each time the words just refused to leave her lips.

Why? Why wasn't she able to ask him that question? Did she unconsciously do that, because it wasn't the right time? Probably.

They spent so much time together that she began to miss him, when he didn't call her for a favor. Felicity still didn't care how he looked like; even he was surprised that his scarred face didn't bother her at all.

**_That afternoon, she was busy with a favor he'd asked her, tapping away at her laptop, when Oliver suddenly placed his hand gently on hers._**

**_"Felicity."_**

**_She looked up at him."Yes?" her voice a bit shaky from the sudden contact._**

**_"Doesn't it bother you at all?" he asked._**

**_"Doesn't what bother me?" Felicity asked._**

**_"My face. My scarred face." He simply said, as he kept his eyes locked on her blue ones._**

**_Felicity laughed hardheartedly and shook her head." No, it doesn't bother me. You wanna know what I see, when I look at you?"_**

**_"Yes, I do." he replied._**

**_"I see Oliver Queen, a very nice and kind man that I like very much." Felicity said, as she gently squeezed his hand._**

**_"Thank you, Felicity." She heard him say._**

**_"What for?"_**

**_"For looking passed 'this' face." he uttered._**

**_"Like I told you from the beginning; I don't judge people solely on their looks. It's what's underneath that counts." Felicity said softly._**

**_She had the urge to place her other hand over his heart, but she was able to hold herself back on time._**

**_"That means a lot coming from you. You are one remarkable human being, Felicity Smoak." Oliver stated._**

**_At those words, Felicity turned crimson red." Thank you." She replied shyly._**

"Felicity?" She was taken out of her thoughts by his voice.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, thank you." She replied, as he handed her a glass of red wine.

Oliver took a seat next to her and smiled." What were you thinking about?"

"Me? What I was thinking? Uh, nothing important. Just this and that. And oh! I hear the vigilante is being a real pain in the…" she began, but Oliver cut her off.

"Do you believe everything you hear, Felicity? Even when it's on the news, doesn't mean that its true," he said in a heated manner.

As Felicity listened to him, she wondered why he looked so annoyed."What's it to you if it's true or not what they say about the guy? Criminal or not? Why does it bother you?" Felicity asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It doesn't bother me. It's just…" he began, but it was then when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Oliver said.

As Felicity took a sip of the delicious red wine, she saw John Diggle walk in.

"Miss Smoak," he said, nodding at her.

"Hi, Digg. How are you?" she said, smiling at him.

"I'm doing OK," he replied before turning to Oliver. "Mr. Queen, I found ..." He hesitated for a moment before rephrasing. "I believe I've found the..._ thing_ you were looking for."he said, making Felicity furrow her brows.

Oliver immediately stood up and said,"Felicity, I really have to be somewhere."

"I take it this..._ thing_ is very important?" she asked playfully, while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, uh… yeah. I have to go. I'll call a cab for you, OK?" Oliver replied and hastily grabbed his phone.

**~ A few minutes later ~**

Felicity was in a cab and on her way to her apartment, when she realized that she still had to pick up her car at the mechanic shop. "Crap!" she exclaimed.

She left it that morning, because her car had trouble starting in the cold. Three hours ago, the mechanic called her to tell her that it was fixed and she could pick it up. Felicity immediately told the cab driver that she had to be somewhere else and gave him the address.

As Felicity was on her way to the shop, she wondered why Diggle and Oliver acted so mysterious. What were those two plotting? This was not the first time that Oliver suddenly had to be somewhere else. Well, guess she'll never know.

The cabbie had dropped her off and after talking to the mechanic for a while, Felicity drove away satisfied, even singing along to "Hear you me" by Jimmy eat world, blaring from her radio. Felicity was almost home, she just had to drive two more blocks, when the inevitable happened.

From a distance she saw a man running on the sidewalk. Felicity furrowed her brows and kept watching him. What was he running from? It only took five seconds, when she received the answer to her burning question.

"Oh my God!" Felicity exclaimed, as she saw _who_ was running after the man.

It was the vigilante! Felicity's mouth fell open and she blinked a couple of times to make sure that she wasn't imagining it. But she wasn't-it was _real_! At one point the vigilante grabbed the man and wrapped his hands around his neck.

Felicity was very frightened, but still she decided to do something. Felicity stopped her car abruptly and she boldly walked towards the two men. As she almost reached her destination, the two men suddenly disappeared in the alley.

"What the heck!" Felicity uttered.

She took a peek in the dark alley, and, despite the lack of light, she saw what was about to happen. While her heartbeat kicked up three notches, Felicity ran into the alley."Wait! Please, stop! Don't!" she shouted, her voice trembling heavily.

The vigilante immediately turned around, but his hands were still on the other man's neck.

"Please, don't… don't kill him. _Please_." She pleaded, as her eyes watered.

"This man has failed this city!" the vigilante said firmly.

"Please, don't. Let him go. Maybe… maybe you're right. Maybe he has failed Starling City. But... But that doesn't mean that… that he deserves to die. Does it?" Felicity said, her heart beating faster and faster with each passing moment.

"Get out of here, _now_!" the vigilante shouted. At the moment, he wasn't in the mood to talk.

Even though Felicity was scared out of her mind, she stood her ground."N… no."

The vigilante groaned and was about to say something to her, when the other man took the opportunity to get out of his strong grip. The man kicked the vigilante and while he ran away, he pushed Felicity. Not expecting that action, she fell and hit her head.

Felicity attempted to get back up, but failed miserably."Go after him, but don't kill…" was the last thing she said. After that, her vision went dark and everything faded before her very eyes.

**~ Some time later ~**

Felicity's eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing that she noticed, was that she was lying on a couch-a very comfortable one.

"Hey," she heard a voice say.

Felicity immediately sat up straight and gasped loudly."Where am I?" she asked while she looked around frantically.

The vigilante saw the look on her face; she was afraid."My place. And don't look so scared. I'm not gonna hurt you." he said.

As he watched her, Felicity observed her surroundings, her mouth falling open slightly. 'Wow!' she thought. She was in the vigilante's lair! 'Oh my God!' Felicity thought. And behind where he stood, she saw his quiver, arrows, and bow on display, only heightening her fear of the Vigilante.

"Oh… OK. So, uhumm… what some people say is true? You aren't a bad guy?" Felicity asked, while her heart pounded against her chest.

"No, I don't hurt innocent women," he stated.

"OK," Felicity said carefully.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Instead of answering his question, Felicity looked up at him and bit her pink lips."Why don't you turn off that voice thingy of yours? It's kind of weird how you're talking to me with that distorted voice." It was then that she noticed the mask that was covering his whole face. She furrowed her brows and asked curiously."And why are you wearing a mask? I hear from people that you only wear that hoodie. Why the mask now?"

He sighed deeply and looked at her. "Well, you must be feeling better, because you are firing all sorts of questions at me," he stated matter-of-factly.

At that, Felicity rolled her eyes and tried to get up, but she failed miserably.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Easy now. You hit your head earlier. Don't attempt to get up yet."

Felicity closed her eyes for a few moments and let out a deep breath.

"Besides your head, are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked.

Felicity nodded."Uhum, yes my knees hurt. They burn a little. But it's not that bad… I think." She responded.

"Let me have a look," he insisted.

"OK."

He grabbed a chair and sat in front of Felicity. Because the fabric of her pants was so damaged, he examined the injured skin through the holes her fall left.

"I'm going to clean it up and put some bandages, OK?" He said.

"OK." Felicity said and nodded.

As she waited patiently for him, the Vigilante walked to the bathroom, grabbed the first aid kit and walked back where Felicity was. She watched him and noticed that he had taken off his green gloves. He grabbed the scissors out of the kit and then cut the thin fabric of her pants all the way up, where her knees were. As he looked at her scraped knees, he shook his head, before grabbing one leg and holding the underside of her knees firmly so he could clean it up.

"I'm gonna put bandages on both your knees, OK?" He said softly.

As his fingers touched and grazed her bare skin, a sudden, delicious shiver went up and down her spine. Huh? What the heck? Why was she acting this way? This man was a complete stranger! Adding to it, he was the vigilante that had the entire Starling City Police Department on his trail. He was a wanted man!

Felicity mentally slapped herself. "I know what this is, I know why I'm thinking this way; I _must_ have a concussion." She whispered.

"Excuse me?" he asked and locked eyes with her.

Felicity turned crimson red, as it dawned on her that she had said that aloud. "No, nothing! Don't mind me." She said in one breath.

As he disinfected her knees, Felicity's eyes fell shut and she hissed softly from the pain.

"Sorry, but it will only sting for a few moments." He apologized.

He was trying to focus on taking care of her injured knee, but he was distracted by her delicious scent. Felicity always smelled good-_very_ good.

Felicity still had her eyes closed, not because of the pain but because the feeling of his warm hands on her bare skin made her a little dizzy.

'Yes, I _definitely_ have a concussion!' she thought.

"All done." He said after a couple of minutes.

Felicity opened her eyes and smiled at him." Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied.

At that very moment, the door flew open and they both saw Diggle walk into the room. Felicity gasped loudly, her eyes wide and her hand over her pink mouth. For a while her eyes went from Diggle to the vigilante and then back. And so on and on.

"OH MY GOD!" she exclaimed.

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_**Leave me your feedback?**_


	3. Chapter 3

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**To thatmasquedgirl: Thank you for proofreading. You are an awesome beta! :)**

**Thank you all for the AMAZING feedback! :) Keep them coming?**

* * *

_"Oh my God!" Felicity exclaimed._

_Diggle stood motionless at his spot and wished that the ground would swallow him whole._

_Felicity's mouth was still open, while Oliver's eyes fell shut for mere seconds._

_"Oliver?" she asked__,__the look on her face shocked and confused._

_Oliver knew that he was busted, so he took off the mask and shrugged the hoodie off of his head._

_As Felicity connected the dots, she said__, "__So now I know why you two always act mysterious! Oliver… you are the Hood! Oh my God!"_

That had happened one week ago. Since then, Felicity had told Oliver that she wanted to join them, that she wanted to help Oliver with his mission. Of course Oliver refused and Felicity kept insisting, neither one of them wanting to back down. Oliver had gotten to know Felicity in the past weeks, so he knew how stubborn she could be. That's why he thought of a way to make her change her mind.

Oliver challenged Felicity…

"You've got to be kidding me!" Felicity exclaimed.

Oliver looked at her and shook his head. "I've never been more serious in my life. Do that and _then_ you can join me to bring justice to Starling City," he stated.

Felicity huffed and threw him a deadly glare."I cannot do that! I'm not super girl, you know!" she spat.

"Well then too bad. If you cannot do it then you should go home," he simply said.

Felicity then turned to Diggle." A little help here, Digg!" she said, the look on her face pleading.

Diggle held his hands up and shook his head."Hey, I'm _not_ getting in the middle of it, OK. This is between you and him, Felicity," John said.

"Yeah, pick _his_ side!" Felicity said and stood right in front of Oliver, her blue eyes locked on his piercing ones. "You are being very unreasonable, Oliver!"

"And you are being very stubborn, Felicity. I cannot allow you to get involved with what I do, OK? It's very dangerous and I need you to be safe. You're my friend, Felicity. I don't want you to get hurt." Oliver said, the last words a mere whisper.

If Oliver thought that she'd back down, just because he said those words, he was mistaken! Oliver Queen didn't know how determined she could be if she put her mind to it. So instead of saying that he was right, that it was too dangerous for her to join them, Felicity tore her eyes from him and walked towards her backpack. She still had her office clothes on, so she grabbed her sweatpants and tank top from her bag and walked towards the bathroom to change.

Oliver looked at Diggle and said, "She's not gonna do what I told her to, is she?"

Diggle looked amused and shrugged. "I don't know. But you challenged her, Oliver. She's not gonna give up so easily. Let's just wait and see, OK?"

After a few minutes Felicity walked towards the salmon ladder with a serious look on her face. Her brows were furrowed, as she concentrated on doing what Oliver told her to.

Oliver walked over to the salmon ladder, while Diggle watched the two from a short distance with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You're really gonna try to do that?" Oliver asked.

Felicity ignored him and did her first attempt. She wasn't the kind of person who gave up without giving it a try, even if something was difficult or impossible.

As Oliver watched Felicity, he shook his head, while a smile graced his face. "You have to reach the top of the ladder. If you don't make it, you don't get to join us," he stated.

Felicity ignored him completely and tried her very best to climb the ladder, but she failed miserably. "Aaargh! Even Digg cannot do it! How do you expect _me_ to be able to?"

Diggle held himself back from laughing out loud. "Hey, I _can_ do it. Who said that I couldn't?" he replied, making Felicity angrier than she already was.

After failing for the fifth time, Oliver held out his hand to Felicity, wanting to help her up. Instead, she glared at him and got on her feet herself. "I don't need your help!"

"Does this mean that you give up, Felicity?" Oliver asked.

At the moment, Felicity was angry, sweaty and very tired. "You're mean! I just want to help you, Oliver. You know that you need me," she said, locking eyes with him.

Oliver let out a deep breath and shook his head. "I can't, Felicity. You're my friend and I can't let anything bad happen to you. It could get very dangerous, don't you get that?" he pleaded, as he placed his hand gently on her cheek.

Felicity's eyes fell shut for mere seconds, but then she opened them again. "Fine!" she spat and walked out the foundry.

**_~ That evening ~_**

Oliver was on his next mission, at the rooftop of a building. He was busy fighting six men and was winning. As the sixth man fell unconscious on the floor, another walked over to him.

"Look what I've found," the man said mockingly.

Oliver turned around and saw that he held Felicity in a tight grip. 'Sorry,' she mouthed.

"Let her go. _Now_!" he demanded with that distorted voice of him.

"One more step and she'll get it. You don't want me to hurt this pretty little thing, do you?" the man threatened.

It only took Oliver a few seconds… it happened so fast! One moment Felicity was still in the thug's grip and the other moment two arrows pierced the thug's hands, while Felicity ended up on the floor, trembling like a leaf.

**_~ Some time later at the foundry ~_**

Felicity sat on the couch, while Oliver examined her body. "Are you okay, Felicity? Did you get hurt?" he asked, his voice filled with tension and concern.

"No, I'm alright, Oliver. Really," she replied, while avoiding his gaze.

"Are you sure?" he asked, while he observed her closely.

"Yes, I'm sure."

After he made sure that she wasn't hurt physically, Oliver got up and took off his green hoodie and placed it neatly on the table. He then turned around and locked eyes with her. "You were very reckless tonight! What were you thinking, Felicity? You could've gotten killed! Don't you know that?" he hissed.

Felicity got up and walked towards him angrily. "Hey, I was in my car, OK? I didn't plan to go into that building anyway. I just thought… aargh! I don't know what I thought! I just didn't want you to kill any one else, so I just followed you there. It wasn't my intention to get in the way."

"Aren't you going to apologize? _This _is the reason why I don't want you to get involved, Felicity. I should've never asked you for that favor. Come on, I'll bring you home now."

Felicity looked him in the eyes and said, "No."

"What?" he said, a baffled look on his face.

"I don't want to go home. I still think you need me, Oliver. And I know for a _fact_ that you need someone to hack into Rick Allen's computer, so you can use that information against him. Guess who can help you with that. And in case you're wondering how I know about it; Digg told me," Felicity said.

As the wheels in his head were turning, Felicity watched Oliver closely. She could almost hear his brain cracking from thinking that hard. As time passed, Felicity took a seat on the couch. She knew that he was outweighing the pros and the cons.

"Well? What are you going to do, Oliver? Am I on Team Hood or not? Though I prefer the former," Felicity said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Finally, Oliver made a decision. "OK, you can help, but on _my_ terms. During every mission, you will listen to me and follow all of my instructions, OK? And you _won't_ go into the field unless it's _absolutely _necessary. Mostly you'll be here behind your computers, helping and guiding us in case Diggle and I need you. We'll communicate via our ear buds. When I see that it gets _too_ dangerous for you, you're out. Is that clear, Felicity?" he demanded.

"Yes, Oliver. It's crystal clear. I'm on team Hood. Yay!" Felicity exclaimed and jumped up.

"What did I miss?" they both heard a voice say from behind them.

Felicity smiled widely. "Digg! I will be helping The Hood from now on. Yay!" she exclaimed once more.

**_~ Two days later ~_**

Felicity sat in her favorite coffee shop, while enjoying a delicious pie, when she saw a young woman walk up to her. As she took a sip of her coffee, the woman stood in front of her.

"Hi," the woman said and smiled at Felicity.

"Hi," Felicity replied.

"I'm sorry, but, uhumm, you are Felicity Smoak, right?" she asked.

"Yes, I am. And you are?" Felicity replied.

"I'm Laurel Lance."

"Oh… OK," Felicity responded, looking at her questioningly.

"Uhumm… can I take a seat?" Laurel asked.

"Yes, of course." Felicity said.

Laurel took a seat and smiled nervously at her. As she looked at Felicity, Laurel couldn't help but wonder why this woman was in Oliver's life and she wasn't. Felicity was a stranger compared to her, right? Oliver knew Laurel for years; they even were in a relationship before he was lost at sea for five years. So why? Why was Felicity in Oliver's life, but she wasn't? Laurel just couldn't accept that fact.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Lance?" Felicity asked curiously.

"I uhumm, I wanna talk to you about Oliver," Laurel said.

"I figured that this was about him. I'm listening," Felicity replied.

"Well, Thea had told me that uhumm… you've been visiting Oliver frequently and I just thought… uhumm… maybe you could talk to him?"

Felicity narrowed her eyes. "Talk to him about what?"

"Well, I want to talk to him, but he refuses to see me. And I don't know why. Thea and her mom have tried, but he hasn't changed his mind about it. So, I thought maybe _you _could manage to change his mind? I just need to talk to him and so does his best friend, Tommy," Laurel pleaded, her voice trembling a little.

As Felicity watched Laurel, she felt sorry for her. Clearly Laurel wanted Oliver back in her life, but he stubbornly refused to see her for obvious reasons.

"Will you please try and talk to him for me?" Laurel asked.

Felicity nodded. "OK, I'll try, but I can't promise you anything, OK?"

"Thank you, Miss Smoak. Here's my number," Laurel said, before giving Felicity her card and walking away.

**_~ That afternoon~_**

Oliver was doing his usual workout on the salmon ladder, when Felicity walked into the foundry. She tilted her head to the side for a second to watch Oliver.

"Take a picture, Felicity. It'll last longer," he said, as the corners of his mouth went up in a small smile.

"Huh? What? I, uhummm… I wasn't looking at _you_! I was watching the… uuuhh, uuhmm… OK, I'm busted, whatever!" Felicity retorted, as she turned crimson red. But she cleverly changed the subject by asking, "Besides hacking into Rick Allen's laptop, I've done a search on some very suspicious activities of his."

"Yes, I saw it on the computer. It's still running though," Oliver responded.

As Felicity took a seat, she wondered if this was the right moment to tell Oliver about Laurel. Should she just tell him about what Laurel asked of her or should she ask him why he didn't want to see Laurel? He never spoke to Felicity about his life before the island or about Laurel. Felicity wasn't sure _what_ to do.

At the moment, Oliver took a swig of his water and grabbed a towel. "How was your day at Queen Consolidated?" he asked, as a genuine smile graced his scarred face.

"It was OK, as usual. Uhummm, Oliver?"

"Yes, Felicity?" he asked, still smiling.

"Why don't you want to see Laurel?" she asked.

When those words left her lips, Oliver's face changed instantly. At that very second, Felicity wished she hadn't asked him that painful question.

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	4. Chapter 4

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**To thatmasquedgirl: Thank you for proofreading. You are an awesome beta! :) **

**Thank you all for the AMAZING feedback! :) Keep them coming?**

* * *

Felicity had asked Oliver the question he dreaded the most, since he'd returned to Starling City. "Why don't you want to see Laurel?"

Those words sent a gnawing pain through his heart, a pain that had consumed him, both during waking hours and in his dreams. The years he was on that horrible island, Laurel was the one person he held onto. She was what had kept him alive. But then Oliver returned home and he found out that Laurel had moved on—had moved on with his best friend.

It was hard enough to be back with a face that ugly and scarred. But like always, fate had been cruel to him, as he found out that Laurel was with Tommy. That's why Oliver decided to sever his relationship with the two. How could he win her heart again if he looked like the way he did? Oliver had an idea how Laurel would react if she saw him:she would totally freak out if she saw how his appearance had changed.

So to protect himself from all the heartache, he kept refusing to see Laurel and Tommy.

As Felicity waited for Oliver to answer her question, she saw all kinds of emotions being displayed on his face. Her heart bled as she saw him in pain. 'He still loves Laurel,' she thought. To her, it was heartbreaking to see her friend hurting. So Felicity instinctively closed the gap between them in three steps and pulled him into a hug, while his eyes fell shut involuntarily.

As Felicity's eyes watered and the tears spilled, she held onto Oliver tightly. The arms he felt around him made Oliver feel so vulnerable and, still, those same arms made him feel like he could overcome anything. At one point, Oliver felt that his shirt had gotten wet from her tears. Her face was still in the crook of his neck, as a soft sob escaped her lips.

"Felicity?" he said, as his eyes fluttered open.

"Yes?" she replied, her voice a little muffled.

"Look at me, please?"

Felicity locked eyes with his piercing blue ones and said."Yes, Oliver."

"Why are you crying?"

She sniffled and shook her head. "I just can't stand it if someone I care about is hurting."

Oliver nodded, as he attempted to smile. "It's OK, Felicity. I can take it. You don't have to spill your tears for me. I'll be alright."

Felicity sighed deeply, as her eyes closed for mere seconds. "Will you agree to a meeting with Laurel?" she asked carefully.

"I don't know if I can. I can take the punishment, I can take the pain, but I'm not so sure if I can see her just yet. I haven't been faithful to her, Felicity. While I dated Laurel, I cheated on her more than once. So, maybe this is Karma giving me payback. I'm pretty sure I deserve it," Oliver said, as a lump formed in his throat.

"Don't say that! No one deserves to feel the pain you're feeling!" Felicity exclaimed, as she cupped his face gently.

Oliver shook his head and said, "How can you care about me? Look at me! I have this ugly face!"

Felicity threw him a deadly glare. "Oliver Queen you are _not_ ugly! Get that through your thick head, OK?! You aren't ugly."

"I can't see Laurel, Felicity. I… I just _can't_. What if she can't see past this?" he said, referring to his scarred face.

Felicity smiled, as she placed her hand on his warm chest. "She will… she will be able to look past the surface, believe me."

As Felicity looked at him with hopeful eyes, Oliver nodded and decided at that very moment to see Laurel.

**_~ That evening ~_**

Laurel was in the living room, busy finishing up on a case she was working on, when she heard a knock on the door. With a file in hand, she walked towards the door and opened it. Laurel saw a man with his face scarred, making a sudden fear creep on her.

She cleared her throat and asked with a trembling voice."Can I help you with something, mister?"

"Aren't you gonna let me in, Laurel?" Oliver asked, as his heart rammed against his chest.

It was then, when Laurel recognized his voice. She looked at him in disbelief, her mouth open slightly. "_Oliver?_ Oliver, is that you?" she asked, still shocked.

"Yeah, it's me. Aren't you gonna invite me in?" he said, as he observed her.

Laurel was afraid of him—that was a fact. The woman that he loved was scared of him…

As Oliver looked at her with pain in his eyes, Laurel shook her head and cleared her throat once more. "Of course. Come in," she replied, her voice shaky.

Oliver stepped inside and followed Laurel. She nervously looked at him and asked, "Do you want a drink?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm good."

"I need one, so why don't you take a seat, while I grab a beer," she said and hastily walked into her kitchen.

Oliver took a seat on the couch and waited. After a few minutes, Laurel walked back into the living room with a beer in her hand and took a seat. "So… uhum, how are you, Oliver?" she asked, as she avoided his gaze by studying her glass.

"I'm doing fine. How are you?" he asked softly.

Oliver tried to make eye contact, but wasn't able to because Laurel deliberately avoided his gaze.

"Laurel?" he asked.

"Yes?" she replied, still avoiding his gaze.

"Look at me," he demanded.

She cleared her throat and finally looked him straight in the eyes. "Yes?"

Oliver let out a deep breath and shook his head. He then stood up and looked down at her. "I don't know why you insisted on seeing me. You asked Felicity to meet with me and now that I'm here, you avoid looking at me like I'm some kind of disease. I know that I don't look like…" he said, but stopped mid sentence, as he felt an unbearable pain shoot through his heart.

"Oliver… I uhumm…" was all she managed to say.

He shook his head. "It's OK. Felicity was wrong, though. I don't think you'll ever be able to see past these scars," Oliver said sadly.

Laurel also stood up, but Oliver stopped her. "Don't bother, Laurel. You're even more beautiful than I remembered, but I guess you and Tommy deserve each other," he said and walked out the door without looking back.

**_~ Three days later ~_**

Felicity was on her way to the foundry. She was worried about Oliver because he hadn't made contact with her or Diggle. Even his mother and Thea hadn't seen him in three days. Where could he be? Diggle had searched for him, but he couldn't find him, either. After work, Felicity decided to try the foundry again. She left QC a little after ten in the evening, because she had plenty of work to finish.

As the foundry came into view, she furrowed her brows, wondering if Oliver was there. As Felicity heard the rumble of thunder, she stepped onto the gas pedal. "Rain, please don't fall from the sky yet. Please let me reach the foundry first," she whispered.

Her prayer wasn't answered, though, because it was pouring as her car screeched to a halt in front of the foundry.

"Aaargh! What now?" she exclaimed.

Felicity waited five minutes, but after that she decided to just go for the door, because it kept pouring and pouring.

"Well, here goes nothing," she said and ran towards the door of the foundry.

As she punched in the code, a shiver went down her spine. It was cold and she was completely soaked. Felicity walked down the steps and saw Oliver lying on the mat where they usually did their workout. Empty bottles of alcohol littered the floor, showing that he had been drinking.

"Crap!" she said, wondering what had happened that he had to drink excessively.

"Oliver," she whispered, but he was in a deep slumber.

As she knelt next to him, she lightly grabbed his upper arm to try to wake him up. Apparently she wasn't gentle enough because he woke up startled and swiftly grabbed and pinned her onto the mat. Felicity yelped loudly, and when he realized it was her, he looked her in the eyes and said, "What are you doing here, Felicity?"

Felicity closed her eyes for several seconds as she tried to form coherent sentences. The feel of his warm body pressed against hers and his hot breath made her dizzy. He was still holding her hands above her head as he glared angrily at her. Even though he was drunk and she was a little scared, she felt a violent shiver up and down her spine. He looked so hot at the moment, even while he threw a deadly glare at her. 'What! Hot? Oliver—_hot?_' she thought as she shook her head, not understanding why she was thinking such things.

"Oliver? Where were you? Everyone's been looking for you," she said, her voice shaky.

He did as if he didn't hear her and kept looking her in the eyes, while still pinning Felicity to the floor.

"Oliver, where were you? We were worried sick about you," Felicity tried again.

But still, he didn't react and kept his hands locked on hers.

"Oliver Queen. Answer me and let _go __of __me__!_" she ordered, her voice trembling noticeably.

"You were wrong, Felicity. She just kept staring at my face—she couldn't see _me!_ You were wrong!" he spat.

Felicity gulped and asked, "You met with her?"

Oliver still had his blue eyes locked on hers and said, "Yes, I went to see Laurel and you know what happened? She looked at me like I was some kind of freak of nature!"

Felicity's heart bled, as she heard those words. "I'm so sorry, Oliver."

Oliver avoided her gaze and hissed, "I do _not_ want your pity."

"It's not pity!" she exclaimed. Felicity was about to give him a piece of her mind, but then she felt how cold it was, shivering as she realized that she was soaking wet. "Let go off me, Oliver. I'm soaking wet," She managed to say.

Instead of letting her go, Oliver looked down at her. She was wearing a white blouse, so as his eyes fell on her chest, he saw that she was wearing a red bra. Felicity's body tingled as she saw him stare at her, his eyes betraying his desire. 'What? No! We're friends! He doesn't look at me that way!' she thought.

It was like he could read her mind because he shook his head, trying to put a halt to his indecent thoughts. He was drunk, but he still managed to clear his head and finally let go of her. Oliver then got up and walked to the bathroom to freshen up.

As her heart hammered against her rib-cage, Felicity walked towards the cabinet to grab a towel. Her knees were shaky as she attempted to stay on her feet, drying herself.

After a few minutes, Oliver walked out the bathroom and locked eyes with her. "Leave, Felicity. I need to be alone," he demanded.

"Unbelievable! Here we are, worried sick about you and what do you say to me? Hmmm? I have to leave? You're a real piece of work, you know that!"

"I'm not gonna warn you again, Felicity. Leave, please," He said, his voice trembling.

"No. I know that you expected more from Lau…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Don't talk about her," he spat. "Leave, Felicity. I don't need your pity," Oliver said, as he invaded her personal space.

He walked toward her with a threatening look on his face, making her walk backwards, and Felicity came to a halt as her back hit the wall. Oliver was towering over her as he said, "Leave, _now_."

Felicity gulped and shook her head. "I'm not gonna leave you in this state. You're drunk!" she exclaimed, while her mind went to the gutter. Why did her eyes land on his lips? She shook her head and sighed deeply. "Don't stand so close to me," she said, her voice squeaky and shaky.

Oliver still had his blue eyes locked on hers and inhaled her scent. 'God! She smells so good. She always does,' he thought. "Are you sure? Do you really want me to take a step back, Felicity?" he asked, his voice deeper than usual.

Oliver saw how she was reacting to his actions and he, in his drunken state, liked it very much. 'God, I should stop this!' was what went through his mind, but he couldn't stop, even if he tried.

"Yeah… yes, I am sure that I want you to give me some space…" she stammered, her heart beating wildly.

Oliver's eyes fell shut, as he decided to stop trapping her against the wall. He didn't want to do anything he'd regret as soon as he was sober. So, even though he was angry at the moment, he knew that he still needed her as a friend. So Oliver turned around and walked away from her.

"What do you want, Felicity? Just go, OK?" he said.

Felicity closed the gap between them and stood two steps away from him. "What happened at Laurel's place? What did she say?" Felicity asked.

Oliver shut his eyes for mere seconds, and, while a tear escaped his eye, he warned her, "Felicity, if you know what's good for you, you will leave _now_."

She shook her head. "No! I'm staying! And don't try to change my mind. It won't work," she stated with determination in her voice.

This time, Oliver walked over to her like a predator towards its prey. Oliver stood in front of her in a blink of an eye and towered over her. She immediately jumped up, her heart beating wildly against her rib cage.

"What… what are you doing, Oliver?" she stuttered.

"I said: _g__o home_," he growled.

Felicity was afraid, but still she didn't make a move to leave. Oliver had enough of her stubbornness and kept walking towards her, so once again Felicity walked backwards till she hit a wall. She closed her eyes, feeling his hot breath on her face.

"Go home," he reiterated. His voice very low, making chills go up and down her spine.

Felicity shook her head. "N-nooo… you need me," she whispered,and, even though she was a bit afraid, she kept standing in her spot.

"Don't make me do something I'll regret, Felicity," he threatened.

But she slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at him. "N-n-noo..." she managed to say. "You will not harm me…" she whispered, her voice very shaky. "You care about me. We're friends. And I know for a _fact_ that you will _never__, __ever_ hurt me, Oliver. So stop with the façade and let's talk about it." Even as she spoke, she could feel herself trembling lightly.

"Get the hell out of here," he warned again.

"_No._"

His face was so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath.

"I'm ugly. I look like a freak. That's why Laurel is afraid of me. Or she's just ashamed of me. Women are so unpredictable," he hissed.

Felicity shook her head. "You are _not _ugly. And I don't think you look like a freak, Oliver. You're a good guy. If she doesn't want you in her life, then that's her loss. But you have your flaws-we all know that. Like you told me before, you haven't been faithful to her, but I know that you are trying now... trying to be a better person. I think you're a great guy, just stay true to yourself, OK?" Felicity whispered, as she touched his face.

An unexpected tingle went through her body as she caressed his face. She smiled at him while her fingers traced the scars on his cheek, and he held his breath. As she boldly cupped his face, she stared into his gorgeous blue eyes intensely. Her fingers slowly traced the scars on his other cheek, her fingers trembling, and she whimpered softly. The sound that escaped her lips was not loud, but Oliver heard it very clearly. At that, he closed his eyes, as he reveled at her soft caress.

'No, no. She's my friend. I can't go there,' he thought, mentally slapping himself.

At the same time, Felicity was thinking, 'Felicity Megan Smoak, you will _not _even think of going there! He's vulnerable right now. _And_… he is your friend!'

They both felt a thick tension in the air as Felicity still stood with her back against the wall. Oliver's presence was trapping her, towering over her so close...

It seemed like time stood still. In that very moment, the pain Oliver felt was forgotten. And everything else faded before the both of them...

But all of a sudden, they both heard the door of the foundry open and close.

"Digg!" they both whispered.

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	5. Chapter 5

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**Thank you all for the AMAZING feedback! :) Keep them coming? My muse needs them to continue this. :)**

* * *

The mission was supposed to be easy! Oliver was supposed to go into the building, while Diggle covered him. Felicity had successfully hacked into Bruno MacDowell's computer, so Oliver had the info he needed to use it against him. But for some reason, MacDowell had taken precautions, it was like somebody tipped him off that the Hood was going to strike. The situation spun out of control fast. At one point Oliver was trapped in a room and Diggle couldn't get to him.

Felicity was in the foundry, trying her very best to hack into the _new _security system MacDowell had installed that afternoon, but after several attempts, she wasn't able to.

"Oliver, I can't get through! Oliver, I'm sorry, but I cannot do it!" Felicity exclaimed over the com, her voice very shaky.

"Felicity, keep trying. You can do it, I know you can." Oliver said calmly.

"I'm trying, but I can't seem to get…" Felicity replied, but got cut off by a very loud noise.

"Was that an explosion?" they both heard Digg say over the com.

"_Oliver_! Oliver, are you alright?" Felicity asked loudly, while her hands shook heavily.

"Mikos." was the only thing Oliver said, over the com.

From that moment on, they didn't hear from him for two hours. Oliver did send Felicity and Diggle a text message, saying that he got out unharmed and that they shouldn't wait up for him. He had _something_ important to take care of.

**~ Three days later ~**

As Felicity stepped into her apartment after a very exhausting night, the only thing on her mind was to get a quick shower and jump into bed_. _As she walked into her bedroom, her mind drifted off to what happened five hours ago.

**_*Flashback*_**

_It was hectic at QC that day and when she arrived at the foundry, Oliver kicked her behind in training. He was determined to teach her to fight, because he wanted her to be able to defend herself if the situation presented itself._

_Oliver was being very hard on her, considering she was just a newbie at fighting. She hadn't had any training whatsoever, before now. Even Diggle tried to come in between them and told Oliver to take it easy on Felicity, but Oliver ignored him completely and went on._

_At one point, Felicity couldn't take it anymore and said."Oliver, please. Can we stop? We've been doing this for four hours now! " She was on her back, while Oliver hovered over her, looking down at her with an expressionless look on his face._

_He glared at her."Fine! It was your idea to help the Hood, Felicity! Are you still in or not?"_

_She nodded, as she tried to get on her feet herself, but her muscles were screaming from pain. Oliver shook his head and helped her up. Her knees weren't cooperating though, she almost sank to the floor again, but luckily Oliver noticed and held her up by gripping her gently. One of his hands was gripping her waist, while the other gripped her hip lightly._

_Felicity cleared her throat and looked up at him."Oliver, I still want this, OK? I want to help you on your mission. Don't even try to change my mind again." She replied, her voice trembling a little. The feeling of his hands on her body, made her a bit lightheaded. 'He's your friend, Felicity!' she reminded herself again._

_Oliver locked his blue eyes on hers."OK, I just wanted to make sure that you still want to help me." _

_Felicity gulped, as she felt his fingers move lower on her hip."So it's clear to you then. I still want this, Oliver."_

"_Can you stand on your own?" he asked, his gorgeous blue eyes still locked on hers._

"_Yes." She replied, her voice squeaky because his scent invaded her nostrils, making her tummy do wonderful flip flops. _

"_I will let go of you now, OK?" He whispered._

_Felicity nodded and thanked the Lord that she was able to stand on her feet. They were a bit wobbly though._

"_Are we done? Can I go now?" She pleaded._

_Oliver nodded, so Felicity hastily grabbed her things and strode out the foundry, glad that the fighting session with Oliver was over._

_***End of flashback***_

Felicity kicked of her shoes, took off her clothes and jumped into the bathroom. She enjoyed the shower, the warm water soothing her muscles."Oliver Queen, you are one mean teacher, you know that." She whispered.

Felicity noticed that Oliver was on edge, but she couldn't figure out why. She had asked Diggle and he told her that he noticed it too. For some unknown reason Oliver was very tense, since three nights ago, since he told them that he had something important to do. What happened that night? Was he acting out on her during the fight training, because of it?

Felicity wanted to learn to fight very badly, but she never thought that it was this difficult. It was easier for her to hack into the mainframe of any government building. A sigh escaped her lips, as she stepped out the shower.

As Felicity walked into her bedroom, she stumbled onto her shoes that she kicked off earlier.

"Crap!" she exclaimed.

Felicity was busy grabbing her shoes, when she heard a soft thud. Felicity jumped up and immediately grabbed her baseball bat that she hid behind her bedroom door. She hastily slipped into her bathrobe, before walking out her bedroom with the bat in hand.

The lights were turned off, so it took her several seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. As Felicity's eyes landed on her window, she saw a silhouette of a person.

"What are you doing in my apartment? Get out _now_!" she warned, her voice trembling.

"Turn on the lights." She heard the person say. 'It was a woman.' Felicity thought.

As Felicity turned on the lights, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Felicity asked.

"My name is Sabrina Smith and I'm here, because I need to speak with the vigilante." The young woman answered.

Felicity shook her head." I don't know what you're talking about. I do not know who the vigilante is." She replied, as she looked Sabrina straight in the eyes.

The young woman smiled and said."He is that charming, isn't he? Even though his looks have changed drastically, he still is able to charm any woman."

Felicity shook her head." I really don't know what you're talking about, Miss Smith."

"You don't have to worry, Miss Smoak. I wont tell anyone that the vigilante and Oliver Queen are one and the same person. His secret is safe with me. I just need Oliver's help." Sabrina stated.

Felicity's eyes fell shut for mere seconds, contemplating what to do. Just like Oliver, the young woman's face was scarred badly. They had that in common and Felicity wanted to know more, so she asked. "OK, why do you need to talk to him?"

"Look at my face, Miss Smoak. Isn't it obvious _why _I need to speak with him?" Sabrina replied, her voice filled with pain.

As Felicity walked closer to the young woman, her heart dropped." Can I…" she asked.

The young woman nodded, so Felicity stood right in front of her and observed her face.

"What happened to you? Were you on the island too?" Felicity asked curiously.

Sabrina nodded." Yes, there was a huge storm and I got shipwrecked. My classmates all died, except for me. I was spared from a horrible death, I thought. I was happy to have reached the island alive. But that was before I found out that the island was _hell on earth_." She explained, while a tear escaped her eye.

Felicity heard the pain in her voice and had the urge to make Sabrina feel better, but she didn't know how to." Did you meet Oliver there?"

"Yes." She simply said.

"What happened to you- to your face?" Felicity asked carefully.

As a sad smile crept on Sabrina's face, she avoided Felicity's gaze." So he never told you, did he?"

Felicity shook her head." No, Oliver is a very private person. And I haven't asked him about it. Its not that I haven't tried before, but every time I wanted to ask him, something told me not to do it. I'm still waiting for him to open up to me. We're friends, so I think that day will come eventually." She responded.

"What happened on that island was the worst thing I've ever experienced. Oliver and I were held against our will and we were put in a cage by this evil man." Sabrina confessed.

"What did this man do to you and Oliver?" Felicity asked carefully.

Sabrina shook her head."Not only Oliver and me. There were others- plenty of them."

Felicity saw that it was hard for the young woman to continue, so she grabbed her lightly on her upper arm. "Do you need to sit down?" Felicity asked.

As they took a seat, Felicity waited patiently for her to continue. After a few minutes, Sabrina let out a deep breath and continued." They treated us like we weren't human beings. To you or to any other person, it will be difficult to imagine that they really did those things to us. I won't describe it to you in details, I can only tell you that our experience on the island was hell on earth- it was _hell on earth_…" Sabrina said, her voice breaking at the end.

Felicity squeezed Sabrina lightly on her upper arm and sat motionless, as she watched the young woman.' She is so young!' Felicity thought.

"Like I said before, I won't describe it to you what happened to us in details, because I don't have the heart to do that to you. If you have that knowledge, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to sleep at night._ I_ can't and I'm sure Oliver doesn't sleep much either. What he and I have experienced on that island is so horrible that I sometimes want to end it. I want to end my life, because I want to end my suffering." She confessed.

Felicity's eyes welled up at hearing those words."So if Oliver hasn't said anything to you about what happened on the island, it's because he wants to spare you." Sabrina said, as a loud sob escaped her lips.

It took Felicity a few moments… after that she asked."So, what did you want to say to Oliver? Have you tried at his house?"

"Yes, I have, but he refuses to see me. And I even send Mikos, but Oliver made it very clear that he doesn't want anything to do with me and the others." Sabrina said.

Felicity realized that Mikos was the name Oliver uttered, when he was trapped at MacDowell's three nights ago. So this Mikos person helped Oliver out.

"Why? Why doesn't he want anything to do with you?" Felicity asked.

"I don't know, maybe he wants to forget and seeing my scarred face will remind him? I really don't know." Sabrina replied.

"OK, I will set it up. I'm gonna make sure you two meet." Felicity stated.

At hearing those words, a small smile graced Sabrina's face."Thank you."

"You're welcome."

It was then, when Sabrina suddenly grabbed Felicity's hand." I have one last important thing to tell you. That's why I need to speak with him. And I'm sure Oliver hasn't told you yet… but I think you should know…" she said and then cleared her throat.

Felicity sat on the edge of her seat, her heart pounding against her chest, as she waited for the young woman to continue.

Sabrina swallowed a huge lump in her throat, as she contemplated how to say it. She wanted to use the right words, because this news was like a bomb being dropped. Sabrina wasn't sure how Felicity was going to react to it. " Miss Smoak, they also did experiments on us, including Oliver. And because of that, the others, Oliver and I... we uhumm, we are... we're dying and..." she said, but was cut off by someone knocking loudly and impatiently on the front door.

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	6. Chapter 6

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**Thank you all for the feedback. :) Keep them coming? My muse needs them, dear readers.**

* * *

**And because of that, the others, Oliver and I... we uhumm, we are... we're dying and..." she said, but was cut off by someone knocking loudly and impatiently on the front door.**

Sabrina's head turned to the door and then back at Felicity.

"I have to go." She stated and within seconds, Sabrina disappeared through Felicity's window.

"Wait!" Felicity exclaimed, but the young woman was already gone.

As Felicity walked hastily to her front door, still dazed and confused about hearing that Oliver was dying, while her hands trembled heavily, she softly muttered." Who could it be?"

When Felicity saw who it was, her face instantly turned pale, as her hands gripped the door frame to steady her shaky legs.

"What do you want?" Felicity asked the fear in her voice evident and clear.

"What you took from him!" the person said in a very threatening manner.

()

The next afternoon Oliver heard from Walter that Felicity hadn't shown up for work that morning. Walter was very worried about her, because this was very unusual for Felicity. From that moment, Oliver had called Felicity several times, but not once did she pick up her phone. By the time darkness fell on Starling City, a very eerie feeling crept onto Oliver. He was afraid that something bad had happened to her.

"This isn't like her, Digg. Something isn't right." Oliver said and decided to look for Felicity.

"Where will you go first?" Digg asked worriedly.

"Her apartment." Oliver replied, as he suited up as the Hood.

As he grabbed his quiver and bow, Oliver turned to Digg."Please contact me as soon as you've found anything." He pleaded.

Diggle nodded." Of course, I will."

()

Oliver leaped from building to building till he reached Felicity's apartment. As he stood on her fire escape, he looked cautiously around. With a tool, he forced her window open and jumped inside the apartment. Oliver searched from room to room, but he didn't find anything. He didn't find _her._

As it dawned on him that she wasn't here, he had a very bad feeling that something horrible had happened to her. At one point, Oliver got scared for Felicity. He hoped that this was just a little misunderstanding, that maybe she had an emergency and had to leave in a hurry without being able to inform Walter or him. Oliver almost believed that, but then his eyes fell on something under Felicity's desk. It was her phone!

And not far from it, he saw her glasses too! Oliver picked the items up and studied them. Her phone was broken; it looked like someone stepped on it. Felicity's glasses were broken too.

A huge lump formed in Oliver's throat, as he realized that someone- probably the Hood's enemy- had taken Felicity.

Once more, Oliver scanned the whole apartment, but except for her broken phone and glasses, he didn't find anything that could be of help. As the seconds passed, Oliver began to feel very guilty. As the guilt consumed him from the inside out, he tightly clenched his hands into fists.

Why wasn't he here for her, when she needed him the most? He failed her. He totally failed Felicity! He had let Felicity slip through his fingers! Oliver regretted how he drilled Felicity, when he was teaching her to fight the day before. Why was he acting like a bully?

As the guilt ate at him, his eyes fell shut, as he tried to picture her face… Her ocean blue eyes, her shiny blonde hair, her red, plump lips, her gorgeous smile, her warm touch, her intoxicating scent...

It all became too much for him to take and as Oliver felt the rage burning inside of him, he decided to get her back! He was going to do everything in his power to get his friend back!

A whirlwind of emotions went through him, the feeling so intense that he had trouble breathing. At one point, he couldn't think clearly anymore, his mind clouded by anger and rage... In that _very_ moment, Oliver promised himself that he was going to kill each and every one who was involved in this! They were going to pay with their lives!

()

Felicity woke up startled and looked at her surroundings. She was all tight up in a chair with her hands behind her back. She tried to get her hands free, but with no success. They securely tied her up. Her feet were also tied to the chair. Her whole body ached from the position she was in. Felicity had a feeling that she was sitting like this for a couple of hours now.

**_*FLASHBACK*_**

_When Felicity saw the woman and man standing in her doorway, she wanted to run, but the man caught her. In a split second, he had his large hands on her, so she struck him hard! Oliver taught her well; the thug was taken aback when she hit him on his chin. He even stumbled back from the force of it. She took her fighting position, making the woman and the thug laugh at her. Compared to him, she was very small. He was muscled, big and tall. Felicity was terrified, but didn't let it show though. Oliver had taught her some good maneuvers, so she decided to use them against her attacker._

_Felicity patiently waited for the thug to attack, because Oliver had taught her to not use all her energy in a fight. If her assailant was much bigger and stronger than her, she had to wait for him to make his move first. She was small and fast and could easily avoid his punches. They fought for a couple of minutes and she was doing well. Not once did the thug strike her and she kept hitting and kicking him, making him very angry. At one point, Felicity had her back to her apartment door. It was then, when she felt two arms holding her. Felicity couldn't move, because the other person held her tightly in her grip._

_The woman laughed at her accomplice."This little woman gave you a hard time? If I didn't come along with you, I think she would've won the fight. Don't be ashamed though. It was very entertaining." The exotic looking woman said, as she placed a cloth over Felicity's nose and mouth._

_Felicity struggled and attempted to free herself, but as she fought for her life, eventually darkness took over her._

**_*End of FLASHBACK*_**

Felicity wiggled in her chair, trying to loosen the ropes, but instead she fell with chair and all flat on her face. Now she was in a more difficult position! Felicity groaned from frustration and looked again at her surroundings. The room she was in was dark and very small; there was a light burning but she couldn't see much. There was only one door and no windows at all.

Felicity was beginning to get scared, but she knew that she could count on Oliver and Digg though. They would've already noticed that she had disappeared and were searching for her. There wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind; she knew that they were going to find her and get her out! Felicity's faith in Oliver was stronger than anything else and she knew that his need to protect her was just as strong- maybe stronger.

That's why Felicity wasn't afraid that no one was going to come for her, because she knew for a fact that they will...

As Felicity closed her eyes, she thought about Oliver. Tears were welling up in her eyes, because she had found out from Sabrina that Oliver was dying.

What was she going to do about it? Oliver was dying?! No! It can't be true! A tear escaped Felicity's eye, as she thought of what Sabrina told her. So the others and Oliver were being experimented on. That was beyond cruel! How can someone do those things to human beings? Oliver didn't tell her about the island, because he wanted to spare her.

Was Oliver tortured by these monsters? Did they scar his face intentionally? As Felicity thought about what Oliver had gone through on the island, the silent tears turned into loud sobs. And now… now she found out that they were dying? Oliver was dying?

How? Why? Felicity refused to accept that she was going to lose him. Maybe there was a way to cure them? To cure Oliver? Because Sabrina wasn't done talking…

Felicity hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone anymore, until she heard a deep voice say."Felicity Smoak, tsk tsk tsk. What have you gotten yourself into?"

Felicity turned around and saw a man standing in front her. When she realized who it was, fear took over her.

"I want it back, Miss Smoak! I want all of it back, _now_!" the man demanded.

* * *

_**Leave me a review?**_


	7. Chapter 7

**An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)**

**I do not own ARROW. :(**

**Thank you all for the feedback. :) Keep them coming? My muse needs them, dear readers.**

* * *

"Diggle, have you found anything? Have you found _her_?" Oliver asked over the com, as he leaped from one building to another.

"No, Oliver. I haven't. I'm sorry." Digg said worriedly. Oliver didn't say anything back, so Diggle continued." And you? Have you found anything?"

Oliver stood on the rooftop of a building and looked over Starling City."No. I didn't find Felicity… but I found her phone and glasses, broken under her desk."

"What do you think happened to her?" Digg asked.

"Someone took her. I don't know who and why… but I'm gonna get her back, Digg. I'll get her back, if that's the last thing I do." Oliver said and terminated the conversation by turning off his ear bud.

**~ 10 minutes later ~**

Oliver was standing on the rooftop of another building, when he saw _them_. He took off his mask and freed himself from his hoodie. As he took his stance, his hands ready, while his fingers were gripping at his bow, he aimed the arrow on one of the four people who were walking towards him.

"Oliver." The young woman said.

As Oliver watched the four people, his eyes welled up. The memories of the island immediately flashed before his very eyes…

**_*Flashback*_**

_Oliver, Mikos, Demetrius, and Yanick were forced in the same cage. That night, they had tortured Oliver and as they brought him back, he struggled, because he didn't want to go back in the small cage._

_"Get off of me! Let me go!" he shouted, as blood streamed down his face._

_The guards held him tightly in their grip and even as he kicked and screamed, they effortlessly dragged Oliver and threw him in the corner. As he felt his face collide with the brick wall, Oliver desperately gasped for air. Never… never before did he feel such pain. The pain was unbearable and at one point, he came in and out of consciousness._

_"Oliver! Oliver, stay with us!" he heard Sabrina say, who was locked in a cage next to theirs._

_Oliver opened his eyes for a second and locked eyes with her. He shook his head and whispered." I… I'm giv… I'm gonna give up, Sabr… Sabrina. I … I cant t… take this anym… anymore…"_

_Sabrina's eyes watered, as she stared at Oliver." No! You must not give up! You will get back home… you'll go home and see Laurel again. Don't! Don't give up! Please, don't!" Oliver heard her say._

_With his eyes closed, Oliver whispered." It's no use…"_

_"Mikos, don't just stand there! Help him! Yanick, Demetrius! Go on!" Sabrina ordered, as the tears rolled down her face._

_The three men reluctantly walked over to Oliver and knelled down beside him._

_"You know that we're gonna get into trouble if we help him, Sabrina!" Yanick spat, as he looked down on Oliver._

_"I don't know about you two, but I'm gonna help him." Mikos said and grabbed a wet cloth to clean up Oliver's face._

_"Holy Mother of … what did they do to him this time?" Sabrina asked, as she turned her face the other way. She didn't have the stomach to watch Oliver's bloody face. 'Did they use a knife on his face?" she thought._

_"They… they thought it would be f…funny to cut my f…" Oliver uttered, but then blacked out again._

_As it dawned on Yanick what those monsters did to Oliver, he didn't hesitate anymore." Oh, what the hell!" he said, as he helped Mikos and Demetrius with Oliver._

_They carried him to the mattress and attempted to clean up his face as best as they could. As Oliver felt the wet cloth on his open wound, he felt as if his face was on fire! He grabbed the cloth from Mikos and threw it away." Don't touch me!" he snapped, the tone of his voice threatening._

_Oliver glared at the three men, his eyes bloodshot and his body shaking like a leaf._

_"We only want to help you, Oliver." Mikos said._

_Oliver looked up at him and warned." Don't. Touch. Me."_

_The three men looked at each other and then without saying a single thing they nodded. From the other cage Sabrina watched, as the two other men grabbed and held Oliver down, while Mikos cleaned up all the blood on Oliver's face and after that, disinfected his wounds with a little bit of alcohol._

_Sabrina's eyes fell shut involuntarily, as she heard Oliver scream from the pain._

_"No! Stop! Nooo!" he sobbed and pleaded, but Mikos and the other men were determined to help Oliver, so they did as if they didn't hear his gut wrenching screams…_

**_*End of Flashback*_**

Oliver still had his eyes on the four people, the arrow aimed at them." What are you all doing here? Leave!" he threatened.

Sabrina stepped forward and held her hands up." We don't want to fight you, Oliver. All we want is for all twelve of us to have a chance. Mikos has told you that Cooper died three weeks ago. We're here so we won't end up like Cooper. Please, let's have a normal conversation and act civil. We're not savages… we" she said, but Oliver cut her off.

"Civil? You're really gonna stand there and pretend that we didn't behave like _savages_ on the island? Have you forgotten what we… what _all _of us have done when we were there? At first we were the victims and they were the monsters, but eventually _we _became what we hated! We became _them_! We became monsters ourselves!" Oliver spat, as his body trembled, the arrow still aimed in their direction.

"Oliver, we all did horrible and unimaginable things when we were there. But we did those things, because we _had _to! We did those things to survive! So we could be free…" Sabrina said.

"But we paid a very high price… we paid with our humanity." Oliver retorted, as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"I know… and I'm so sorry for everything, Oliver." Sabrina said, as a sob escaped her lips.

"Leave!" Oliver warned, as he glared at them.

"No, we won't leave. You know why? Because we found out that there _is _a cure! We only have to find the doctor." Yanick said firmly, as he locked eyes with Oliver.

"There is no cure! Don't you think that I haven't tried to search for it? Huh? I have tried; I searched high and low for Dr. Panagos. And you know what I discovered? He is _**dead**_! So stop searching for it, because you are giving the others false hope. You all should leave Starling City and live your life… what's left of it anyway. How much time do we have, Sabrina?" Oliver asked, his voice very shaky.

Sabrina swallowed hard and let out a deep breath." 18 months give or take." She replied.

"Well then. Go! Leave my city." Oliver said firmly.

"Told you he wouldn't want to hear us out!" Demetrius exclaimed, while he towered over Sabrina.

At this point, Sabrina knew that Oliver wasn't going to listen to reason. That's why she visited Felicity. Sabrina hoped that Felicity was going to arrange a meeting with Oliver and her, but now that the other woman was taken, she didn't have a choice but to ambush Oliver like this.

"We should've waited for that blonde woman!" Demetrius muttered.

At hearing those words, Oliver's head instantly snapped at Demetrius' direction."What did you say?" he asked, his eyes narrowed. In a split second, Oliver leaped at him and had wrapped his large hands around the other man's throat, squeezing it tightly.

"Which blonde woman? What are you talking about? Where's Felicity? Tell me! _Now_! " Oliver growled, as his eyes bored into Demetrius'.

Demetrius attempted to gasp for air, his hands over Oliver's, while he had a look in his eyes, begging for Oliver to let him go.

"Oliver, stop it. Let him go!" Sabrina pleaded, but Oliver wanted an answer first.

The others shouted and told Oliver to let go of Demetrius, but he didn't listen. At one point, Yanick pointed a gun at Oliver.

"If you don't let him go now, you will regret it." He warned, while cocking the gun.

"No, why don't _you _put the gun down! _Now_!" they all heard someone say from behind them.

When Oliver saw Diggle, he gave him the nod and continued." Where is she?"

Sabrina had a panic look in her eyes, as she looked at Demetrius." OK, OK! I know where she is! I will tell you, Oliver. Let him go, before you kill him!" she begged, while she grabbed Oliver on his upper arm.

He did as Sabrina asked, before grabbing his bow and arrow. Diggle watched, as Demetrius sucked in deep breaths."Y… you are cr… crazy, Queen." Demetrius stammered, while glaring at Oliver.

"Tell me something I don't know… Sabrina, tell me where she is."Oliver retorted.

"What is she? Your girlfriend?" Yanick asked mockingly.

"She's my dear friend. Spit it out, Sabrina." Oliver demanded, as he towered over her.

"Follow me… I'll show you where they are keeping her." She replied.

((((((() )))))))))

At the moment Felicity was typing away on Derek Watson's computer. Her fingers were trembling, while sweat trickled on her forehead.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you, sweetie?" Watson said, as he stood behind Felicity.

A tear rolled down her cheek, as she felt his hand rest on her left shoulder.

"Don't touch me." She managed to say, finding his touches very repulsive.

"I still love you, Felicity. Why did you run from me? Huh? We were gonna rule the world together." Watson said, the tone of his voice very disapproving.

As Felicity attempted to hack into the bank of Starling City, she prayed that the bank had taken precautions to protect it from hackers.

"Felicity! Why? Why did you leave me? I loved and worshiped you. Why!" Derek asked, his voice threatening.

As a sob escaped her lips, her eyes fell shut. Then she turned around and threw him a deadly glare."Why? You ask me why I left you? You lied and deceived me! And if _that_ wasn't enough, you used me! And I was just 17, Derek! 17! I was so young, believing that you really cared about me… b-but you were a lying, manipulating, selfish and greedy asshole!" Felicity spat, as she stood up to face him.

He looked straight at her and smirked." Well, well. You're not that same girl anymore, are you?" he said and cupped her face.

Felicity's eyes fell shut, as she fought the urge to try and kick Derek's ass. Five of his body guards were watching her with each a rifle in their hands.

"Don't. Touch. Me." She warned.

"There was a time when you _liked_ it when I touched you." He responded, while he traced her lips with his finger.

"Derek, you are so full of shit! But I guess you already know that… I will get your money back- all of it. On one condition though; Just get your filthy paws off of me!" Felicity demanded, her voice trembling heavily.

"OK, OK. I will keep my hands to myself. You can't blame me though… look how gorgeous you have become... " he said, as he shamelessly undressed her with his eyes.

Felicity huffed, so he smirked." Sweetie, we have a deal: I wont touch you and you will get my money back." Derek replied, while crossing his fingers behind his back.

Relieved, Felicity sat back in the chair and attempted to get to Watson's frozen account. There was more than 10 million dollars in that account, but the FBI had frozen it, when he went to jail 8 years ago. Felicity was already in and was about to transfer all the money into Derek's bank account in the Cayman island, when they both heard a loud noise.

"What the hell?" Watson exclaimed, while he gripped the desk.

"Was that an explosion?" one of the guards shouted.

Shocked and confused, Felicity looked around the room. As she tried to hide, she heard someone kicking the door open.

"Fe-li-ci-ty." she heard someone say.

Only one person said her name like that. Only one person said her name like it was a prayer. Only one person…

From that point on, everything around her turned into chaos.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

_**OLICITY**_

_**I still do not own ARROW. :(**_

_**Thank you all for the feedback! :) **_

_**Keep them coming? Pretty please?**_

* * *

**Note: Oliver and Digg have taken Felicity out of harms way and made sure that Derek Watson was arrested by the Police. They did get help from Sabrina and her crew.**

* * *

After Diggle had walked Felicity to her door, she walked into her apartment, feeling horrible.

"Are you sure that you want to be alone now, Felicity? You can stay at the foundry, you know. Oliver and I will be there the whole night." Digg suggested.

"No, its OK, really. I want… need to be alone now." She replied, her voice trembling lightly.

"OK, then. Call us if you need anything, OK?" Digg answered.

"Of course." Felicity uttered.

"Felicity, are you alright? I mean, Wats…" Digg began, but she cut him off.

"Digg, I'm fine, honestly, OK? I'm fine!" she said, trying to sound convincing.

But Diggle didn't believe her, but decided to let it go."OK, Felicity. If you say so."

"Uhummm, Digg?"

"Yes?"

"Is Oliver angry at me?"

"Angry at you? Why would he be angry at you?"

"I don't know… I thought, now that my past caught up on me... You have to believe that I never meant to drag the two of you into my mess and…" she began, but Digg cut her off.

"Hey, hey. Easy now. We don't blame you for anything, OK? You needed our help and we were there for you. No one's angry at you." He said, as he gently squeezed her upper arm.

"OK. But Oliver looked angry at me."

"No, it's just that he's got a lot on his mind and to worry about. Sabrina and her crew are being a pain, that's why. But he's most definitely not angry at you, OK?" He said, trying his best to reassure Felicity.

"OK. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Felicity. Sleep tight." He replied and walked out the door.

((()))

She was all alone now… Felicity was afraid and desperately wanted to run after Digg and tell him that she wanted to go with him to the foundry, but her legs refused to cooperate. So she stood in her living room for a couple minutes, as she fought her tears. After a while Felicity walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl of ice cream and went to her bed room. She kicked off her shoes and sat on her bed, eating the sweet stuff. Sighing deeply, her mind drifted off to what happened when she was at Derek's.

A chill went up and down her spine, as images of him touching her flashed before her very eyes. Even though she desperately fought the tears, they eventually rolled down her cheeks. Why couldn't he leave her alone?

Felicity thought that she had left and never was going to see him again. But that lying, manipulative, selfish asshole had searched for her! It had taken so much to be able to built a new life for herself. And just when she thought that she didn't have to look over her shoulder anymore, Derek found her and slashed open, her old wounds. Felicity didn't want to look back at her past, but guess fate wanted to be cruel to her.

Frustrated, she put the bowl away and decided to take a shower.

~ 10 minutes later ~

With a towel wrapped around her body, Felicity walked out the bathroom. Guess it all became too much for her heart to take, because just as she was about to reach her closet to grab her clothes, she sank to the floor and broke down.

Felicity thought that she had buried the demons she had fought in her past. She also thought that she had moved on, but seeing Derek again, hearing his threats and feeling his paws on her, made her relive what she had been through with him. Derek did not know the real reason why Felicity left him. And she was planning to keep it to herself, but it was so hard.

A gut wrenching pain, gnawed at her heart and soul, as her mind brought her back to the past... What Felicity had witnessed on that horrible night, had drove her to leave Derek. When she saw with her own eyes what kind of monster he was, she left at 4 in the morning, when he was still asleep. God, she hated him so much! Felicity was 17, and believed that he truly cared for her...

It became too much for her. So with great difficulty, Felicity attempted to get on her feet to reach her bed, but again she sank on the floor, not having the strength to do anything. As her eyes fell shut, Felicity tried her very best not to think of Derek's hands on her. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep on her bedroom floor, still with only the towel wrapped around her body.

((()))

"Oliver, go." Digg said.

"What? Go where?"

"Go check up on her. We both know that you will be fidgeting the whole night, because you're worried about her. Go." Digg replied.

Oliver shook his head. "No, she must be sleeping now. I don't want to disturb her, Digg. Plus, she did tell you that she was fine. Right?"

Digg stopped with his workout and walked over to Oliver."Go."

"OK, I'm going now. Jees!" he replied, and suited up.

((()))

Oliver tapped at Felicity's window, but she didn't react. He looked inside her bedroom and saw her lying on the floor. He immediately forced her window open and jumped inside. Oliver put his quiver and bow on a table, before walking over to Felicity. With a worried look on his face, Oliver knelled next to her. She was wrapped up in a towel and slept restlessly.

He thought of waking her up, but didn't because she looked so exhausted and needed her sleep. So Oliver took her in his arms and carried her in bridal style towards her bed. As he laid her on the bed, he looked at this beauty before him.

Oliver felt a wonderful feeling stir inside of him, as he covered her with a thick blanket. He wondered what the story was between her and Watson. Where did she meet him and what kind of relationship did she have with him? Were they lovers?

As Oliver brushed a lock of blonde hair from her face, he saw her move. He immediately pulled his hand back, because he didn't want to wake her. She needed the rest. As he watched her, afraid to even breathe, a small smile crept on his scarred face. The blanket had fallen from her body and was lying next to her, when she moved in her sleep. Smiling, he pulled the covers over her whole body, except her face. At the moment, it looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Her gorgeous, shiny blonde hair framed her beautiful face, giving him a huge lump in his throat. Her pretty pink lips were tempting as always.

Felicity was a remarkable, amazing woman. How did she ever get involved with such a man like Derek Watson?

Again Oliver brushed a lock from her face, as his feelings got the best of him. He knew that he shouldn't be doing what he was about to do, that it was a huge risk, but he couldn't help himself. Admiring her beauty, he caressed her face softly. His hand softly trailed her left cheek, gently feeling the warm, soft skin there. The moment his fingers went from her cheek and ended up on her plump lips, his body began to shudder slightly. The feel of her lips on his fingertips, released all kinds of emotions in him.

Suddenly Oliver had trouble breathing… He knew that he shouldn't go there. He shouldn't even _think_ of her in that manner. She was his _friend_ and there were so many reasons why he shouldn't have _these_ kinds of feelings for Felicity.

For one: he looked like the character from the Phantom of the opera. Who would want him, looking like that? Reason two: he didn't want to lose her friendship. Reason three: who said that she had romantic feelings for him? Reason four: the vigilante cannot be involved with someone- with anyone. And the fifth and last reason: He, Oliver Queen, only had 18 months to live- give or take…

Oliver was suddenly taken out of his thoughts by Felicity. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

"Oliver, is that you? What are you doing in my room?" she asked, as she sat up.

As he locked eyes with her, he wanted, he desperately _wanted_ to hold her in his arms, after what she had been through with Derek Watson. But he was afraid to do so.

Instead, he placed a hand on her upper arm and asked."Felicity, are you alright? Did Derek Watson hurt you?"

Felicity's eyes fell shut, as Derek's name left Oliver's lips. Just hearing his name, made her want to throw up."Oliver. I... I can't… I uhumm, I lied to Digg. I'm _not _doing fine… I'm everything but fine, OK! I… I…" She ranted, as her eyes welled up.

This time, Oliver pulled her in a tight embrace without thinking of the consequences. He knew that he was playing with fire. He didn't want to let his feelings get to him like this, but she was in pain and he was here. As her face landed in the crook of his neck, she let her tears flow freely.

After a long while, her loud sobs subsided and eventually came to a stop. Felicity looked up, but still held onto him.

"Oliver. I don't want to sleep alone." She said, looking him with pleading eyes.

He smiled and wiped her tears away."I'm here, Felicity. Don't worry."

Relieved, Felicity placed her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent. She never wanted to admit it, not even to herself, but she loved the smell of his aftershave.

Felicity was still sitting on her bed, wrapped in Oliver's arms.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked.

Felicity pulled away and nodded.

"And something to eat too." She said shyly.

He chuckled and got up, after telling her."Stay right here. I'll order some food, OK?"

Felicity sat motionless on her bed, as she waited for Oliver. But then it dawned on her that she was still wearing _only_ a towel. She immediately jumped out her bed and got dressed.

((()))

After Oliver and Felicity had eaten their food, they sat on the couch, drinking a glass of red wine.

"Felicity, do you want to talk about Derek Watson?" Oliver asked, as he tried to lock eyes with her.

She avoided his gaze and shook her head."Oliver, what happened be... between that monster and me is in the past, OK? Can you please let it go?"

He locked eyes with her and said." I just don't get how you got involved with such a man. You are the most brilli..." he began, but Felicity cut him off, as she stood up.

"Yes, I'm remarkable and an IT-genius! But it wasn't always like that, OK? Before Starling City, I had a life, I was young and Derek... Derek..." she began, but stopped mid sentence, as her hands trembled heavily." I... I don't want to talk ab... about it, Oliver. Let-it-go. Please." Felicity asked, as her throat closed up.

Derek Watson still had a hold on her. Even after all these years, Felicity wasn't able to talk about her past.

"Fine. You don't want to talk about it. Keep it all to yourself, Felicity. That will help you go through whatever it is you're going through. Even though Watson has been taken into Police custody, I can see that he still has this power over you. You're still afraid of him. But if you want to keep it to yourself. Fine by me, Felicity." Oliver spat, as he too stood up, while towering over her.

"I am _not _the only one who's keeping things to their self, Oliver! What about you, huh?" Felicity shouted, as she hit Oliver in his chest with her index finger. She was _so_ furious! "You think I don't know? Now that we're talking about us being friends, let's talk about how you are keeping to yourself that you are DYING! You want to talk about that, Oliver? Huh? Do you?" Felicity spat, as her whole body shook. He didn't answer her, instead he looked at her with an expressionless look on his face.

"Have you told Digg? Or your mom? Or your sister? Huh? Have you? And you wanna stand there and accuse me of keeping things to myself? What I do or say doesn't have any effect on people's lives, because I have no one. Well only you and Digg, but what happens to _you_ has major impact on other people's lives! Don't you get that? Why? Why, Oliver, don't you want to talk to Sabrina about the cure?" Felicity shouted, as she kept hitting him in his chest with her index finger.

"Cure? Felicity, there is no freaking cure! What do you know? You don't know a damn thing about what happened on the island! So don't act like you do!" he spat.

"Well of course I don't know a damn thing about what you experienced on the island! _You _keep it to yourself and keep _me, _your 'friend' in the dark about it! Of course I do not know, Oliver!" she shouted, as her eyes welled up.

At this point, the two of them were all up in each other's faces. He was looking down at her, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes boring into hers. Felicity on the other hand, looked up at him, her whole body trembling, as a tear escaped her eye. He was _so _close to her, that she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"What, aren't you gonna answer me? You are one big hypocrite, Oliver Queen!" she accused. Felicity was right, and Oliver knew that. He didn't reply, so she went on. "You're selfish! Don't you care what happens to your family when you're dead? Or Digg... Or me? Don't you care about me..." she said, the last words a mere whisper.

The way Felicity was looking at him, and her scent... Oh God, her heavenly scent, and why were her eyes so out of this world?

As their eyes stayed locked on each other, his hand landed on her cheek. Then Oliver answered her, his voice shaky.

"Of course I care about you. You mean... you have no idea how much you mean..." he said, then paused for a few moments, and then continued." And you have no idea how difficult it is for me to... to be around you and not be able to..." he began, but stopped mid sentence, because he was interrupted by his phone ringing loudly.

As Oliver took the call, he let out a deep breath, then cleared his throat." Yes, Diggle?" he answered, feeling angry and relieved at the same time.

From the other side of the line, Oliver heard Digg say." Uhumm, Oliver. I have very bad news."

* * *

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